


The Light Blinking at the End of the Road

by justafabulouskilljoy



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, Growing Up Together, Human!Castiel - Freeform, M/M, broken legs, chess sets, eventual established relationship, lots and lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 09:37:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3483347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justafabulouskilljoy/pseuds/justafabulouskilljoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winchesters had known Castiel Shurley for a little over a decade. His father was a hunting friend of John's, Chuck.  He was a nice enough guy but unfortunately couldn't outrun a shapeshifter, and died a death that was undignified and beneath him, like most hunters. Upon finding out that Chuck had a now orphaned son with no family to turn to, John gave into his usually abandoned sentiment and took the boy in.</p><p>Castiel was always a bit...off. He stared too long with intense blue eyes that seemed to catalogue your every move. He was in a perpetual state of ordered chaos. Metaphors went so far over his head he couldn't even see them. He was still sweet though and saw the world through completely different eyes. He was intelligent but had experienced nothing, his head was filled with facts from books but no story in his head belong to him.</p><p>There was little to dislike about him, he was only different and as much as John and Sam tried to hide it, they had a hard time getting used to him. Eventually they came to think of him as family but it was a long road. Dean, on the other hand took to him almost instantly.</p><p>(Told in a series of one-shots from varied point of views.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. But More Than You'll Ever Know

**Author's Note:**

> The work title is from Panic! At the Disco's song "Always"  
> DISCLAIMER: I obviously do not own Supernatural or any of it's characters.

"So..." Dean muttered awkwardly as he entered the motel room, doing his best to mimic his father's gait. "Your name's Castiel?" 

The dark haired boy looked nervously around the empty room. There was no one to save him from an awkward conversation with this freckled boy. 

"You know how to talk, right?" Dean prodded gingerly, taking a step forward. He knew that there was no reason to be this overly cautious around this boy. He was smaller and younger than Dean but this was the only way Dean had ever seen his father interact with others. He was always careful. Dean figured it was normal. This is just how adults were.

"Of course I can talk." Castiel scoffed, finally speaking up. It was over quickly though, a frown settling upon his features. How rude of this boy to assume he was incapable of something so simple, so juvenile.

"Then answer the question." Dean decided to keep up the act. He didn't understand why but it was kind of fun pretending to be his father. He finally got to be in charge of someone that wasn't six years old.

Castiel furrowed his brow angrily. "My name is Castiel. However, I still don't understand the point of asking since you already knew my name, as I know yours." He crossed his arms over his chest no longer scared but annoyed with the boy in front of him. 

Dean shrugged, "Just protocol." He didn't quite know what that meant either but it was another thing he often heard his father say. With sigh Dean gave up acting like his father, finding it to be too much work. It didn't seem to be getting him anywhere with Castiel anyway. He sank into the motel couch next to Castiel.

Castiel shrugged as well trying out this new gesture and quickly finding he didn't like it. After several moments of silence, he turned questioning blue eyes to the ten year old next to him. "What protocol?" He was answered with another shrug. Yeah, Castiel definitely did not like shrugging. It wasn't an actual answer for anything.

The air was filled with silence once more. "You know your name is the name of an angel." His voice was much more quiet, he kept his tone soft, testing the waters with his own words rather than spewing his father's.

"Really?" Castiel seemed to respond better to his words.

"Yeah, he's...uh...it's the angel of Thursday." He added. Castiel said nothing for a couple of seconds. He only tilted his head, lost in thought.

"I do like Thursdays." He finally commented and a chuckled escaped the other boy. Quicker than Castiel had realized his distaste for shrugging, he realize that he loved that sound. It made his stomach feel warm and pleasantly unsettled. 

From that moment on they'd silently established eachother as friends. Something neither of them had ever really had before. 

They fell into a conversation about all things that ten year old talked about, or if you rather things these ten year olds talked about. Dean talked of Star Wars, cars and everything in between. Castiel rambled off facts about stars and all things ancient. 

Several hours later, John Winchester returned to find the two young boys passed out in front of a TV loudly playing Star Trek. 

  


• • • • •

  


From that day on they were inseparable. The boys fell into a rhythm. John did his best to keep everyone safe and fed, at the very least. Dean practically devoted his life to protecting Sam. Castiel helped to keep the weight of the world from settling onto his best friend's shoulder in turn shouldering most of it. And Sam unintentionally did his part, keeping them all mostly sane and somewhat in check.


	2. Time Bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dean puts Cas before the Impala, and everyone is surprised because they're not really surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI the chapter title is an All Time Low song.

The pair had been seventeen or so and had made it out of of a vampires' nest by the skin of their teeth. Castiel had broken his leg so Dean carried him bridal style to the car. (That wasn't unusual though. Dean was a very touchy feely person.)

"Just give me the towel, Dean." Castiel demanded through gritted teeth. The aforementioned towel was currently wrapped around his bleeding leg. (His leg hadn't broken very cleanly.) Dean was preventing him from removing it. He'd been complaining for the past ten minutes. Sam and John hadn't interfered, they knew how Cas hated being in anything other than working condition. He was always worried he was a bother otherwise and no matter how many times he was reassured he was never convinced. "I'm getting blood on the seats."

"Would you stop?" Dean snapped. "We can clean the friggin seats later, Cas. But if you move that towel nothing's gonna stop you from bleeding to death. So quit bitching and shut up until we get the the hospital."

Sam and John exchanged awed looks. Dean had put Castiel before the car. Not that he wouldn't do that for any one of them, but he'd still joke about how they'd clean the car after. Even so, they knew that this could potentially mean something big but it wasn't confirmed until about fifteen minutes later. Sitting in the front seat they'd barely caught Dean's hushed whisper of an apology for snapping at him. Of course Castiel forgave him but in return immediately began bombarding him with questions about his well-being. 

"Jesus Christ, Cas. I'm fine. You're the one with the broken leg."

"You're not fine. You're going to need stitches."

"So? I get stitches like every other day."

"That's not a good thing."

"I never said it was. I was just..." He sighed. "Nevermind. Just stop talking."

"Why do you-"

"That's talking."

"I'm aware of-"

"Still talking."

"I don't-"

"You don't need to understand, Cas. Just stop talking."

"You're-"

"Stop."

"You're impossible." Castiel grumbled, and defeated let his head drop onto his best friend's shoulder.


	3. Almost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Lord of the Rings chess sets almost solves a problem, but not quite.

Dean really had no idea why they were in here. Well, actually he did, he was here because for the life of him he couldn **'** t say no when Cas and Sam both gave him the puppy eyes. It was bad enough when one of them did it but why the hell did they have to gang up on him like that?

It was just a book store with a bunch of nerdy novelty items. Dean hadn **'** t wanted to go inside because they would just find things they wanted and couldn **'** t afford then he **'** d have to deal with them pouting for the next couple of days. 

 **"** But we **'** re not getting anything. **"** Dean told them before setting them loose in the store. **"** So don **'** t even bother asking. **"** Sam nodded but was still grinning. The kid literally fed off just being near books. As soon as his older brother gave him the clear he ran off giddily to the books. 

Cas on the other hand, dragged Dean through the isles showing him everything he found even remotely interesting. Dean could tell he was excited but it wasn **'** t like Sam excited. It was much more subtle. He got a little more talkative and much to Dean **'** s contentment his blue eyes got just a little bit brighter and the corners of his lips turned up in a small smile.

They did this for almost an hour. Dean got pulled to nearly every corner of the store by Sam and Cas and could probably name every item in the tiny store, when Cas spotted it. The worst part was Dean saw him spot it. His eyes lit up even brighter and he turned to look at Dean with a full genuine smile. Not one of his usual closed-mouth half-smiles. This was a full on grin, teeth and all. Dean wanted to give him everything but his stomach twisted because he knew he was going to have to tell his best-friend no. 

 **"** Dean, look. **"** He pulled on his sleeve, towards the box that sat on the bottom shelf. It was Lord of the Rings chess set. Even though Dean couldn **'** t see anyone but Cas wanting something that nerdy. **"** I know you said not to ask but uh... **"** And now Dean had to crush him. Now that he thought about it, this was all John **'** s fault. He couldn **'** t fucking have a normal ass job and now he was going to have to suffer for days of Cas not talking to him. 

 **"** Cas, you know we can **'** t. **"** Dean watched as his eyes dimmed and his face fell. 

 **"** But, **"**

 **"** No Cas. We only have money for food. **"** He wanted to punch himself in the face. Yet, he knew he was being too nice about it. Cas was stubborn and was bound to ask again if he wasn **'** t shut down. And of fucking course, Dean had to be the one to do that. **"** Just drop it, we don **'** t need it anyway. **"** And then he had to walk away. Biting the inside of his cheek so hard he bled. He pushed himself up from his crouching position on the floor and walked away from his best friend who looked like Dean just killed his Goddamned puppy. 

 

*****

 

Two whole days of silence. Cas wouldn **'** t even look him in the eye. Sam noticed but only called him out on it when Cas left to go get groceries. (He was the only middle ground between terrible junk food and annoyingly health conciouncicus food.)

 **"** So are you gonna say anything to him or are you just gonna keep pouting too? **"** Sam questioned.

 **"** What are you talking about? **"**

 **"** Oh come on. A blind guy would notice. **"** Sam rolled his eyes. The kid was way too perceptive for a fourteen year old. 

Dean sighed defeated. **"** I don **'** t know what to do. I mean how upset could a guy get over a fucking Lord of the Rings chess set. We don **'** t have the money. I **'** d buy it if I could. **"**  

 **"** That **'** s not what he **'** s upset about. He **'** s mad because you were an asshole about it. You could have told him what you just told me but instead you snapped at him. **"**  

 **"** I wasn **'** t an asshole about it. I mean I wasn **'** t nice about it but he wouldn **'** t have dropped it if I was. **"** Dean urged even though he knew it was a lie. He just wasn **'** t quite ready to admit that. Sam rolled his eyes, he saw through Dean better than anyone.

 **"** Cas is a smart guy Dean. He **'** s also not selfish enough to keep arguing for something he knows he doesn **'** t need when he knows we don **'** t have the money. **"** Sam stated sensibly. The damn kid was always right. 

 **"** Well, what do I do? **"** Sam sighed again.

 **"** Do I have to solve all of your problems for you? **"** He asked slightly teasing.

 **"** Do you _want_ to get pushed down the stairs? **"**

 **"** You wouldn **'** t. **"** Sam smirked before smugly getting off the couch and pulling a small bag from this suitcase. **"** There **'** s only two things you can do. And pretty much just one for you since you **'** re incapable of just apologizing like a normal person. **"**  

 **"** Enjoying yourself, Sammy? **"** Leave it to Sam to take full advantage of Dean coming to him for advice.

 **"** Maybe a little. **"** He smile before pulling a twenty from the little baggy. 

 **"** Where the hell did you get that? **"**

 **"** I **'** ve been saving it. **"**

 **"** Sammy, I **'** m not spending you **'** re money. **"**

 **"** Yes, you are. **"** Sam said forcefully placing the bill in Dean **'** s hand. Besides the chess set was only ten dollars, the book I wanted was coincidentally also ten. **"** He smiled.

 **"** You had this planned the whole time didn **'** t you? **"** Dean accused pocketing the money. 

 **"** Just go get that chess set for you boyfriend. **"** Sam flopped back down the couch with as much grace as a Sasquatch like himself could muster. Dean flushed bright red.

 **"** He **'** s not my boyfriend. **"** He muttered quietly pulling his jacket on.

 **"** Okay. **"** Sam said smugly. Dean hit him on the shoulder before rushing to the stupid book store once again. 

 

******

 

When Castiel returned to the motel, only Sam was there. When he asked where Dean was he only got a knowing grin in response. Within ten minutes, Dean rushed in, face flushed red from the cold holding, a plastic bag behind his back. He pulled a book out and tossed it at Sam. **"** Go away, Sammy. **"** He directed, eyes never leaving Cas. 

Sam laughed and took his book into the bathroom because motels didn **'** t offer much more privacy than that.

 **"** Where were you? **"** Castiel asked tilting his head to the side in question. Dean smiled nervously as he pulled another box out of the bag and placed it next on the bed next to Castiel. Castiel furrowed his brow at his best friend before glancing down at the box. **"** How did you get this?! **"** He exclaimed, eyes lighting up in a way that definitely _didn **'** t_ make Dean **'** s heart melt. **"** Wait, **"** His expression became much more suspicious. **"** Did use the food money? **"**

 **"** Cas, you just spent the food money. **"** Dean reminded him.

 **"** Then how? **"**  

 **"** Doesn **'** t matter. **"** He shifted from foot to foot. **"** Do...do you like it? **"** Castiel smiled a full smile once again 

 **"** I love it, Dean. Thank you. **"** Dean smiled as well and they continued to stare into each other **'** s eyes for several seconds, before Castiel spoke.

 **"** So, will you play? **"**  

 **"** I dunno, Cas. I figured that would be more of yours and Sammy **'** s thing. **"**

 **"** Oh. **"** There it was again. That dimmer in his eyes. Dean had to stop doing that. **"** I understand. **"**

 **"** Ugh. **"** Dean groaned throwing his head back. **"** Fine. Set up the stupid board, Cas. **"** Dean sat himself on the bed across from his best friend. 

 

******

 

This had to be one of Sam **'** s worst ideas. He **'** d eventually come out of the bathroom but was now having to deal with those two morons giggling and blushing, and their banter that Dean insisted over and over again wasn **'** t banter. Sam was hoping that this might be what pushed them over the edge into actually dating, but it seemed that could only be caused by something much more obvious. Not that it was a problem though. Sam had an endless amount of tricks up his sleeve. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and also if you're interested, my basically just Destiel themed tumblr....  
> deanlovescasandhisfeatheryass.tumblr.com


End file.
